Construction of railway-tracks



(No Model.)

T. H. GIBBCN. CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRACKS.

No. 403,465. Patented May 14, 1889.v

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THOMAS H. GIB BON, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY-TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,465, dated May 14, 1889. Application filed December 17, 1888. Serial No. 293,795. (No model.)

To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. GIBBON, of the city and county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Street- Railway Tracks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements on the system of constructing railway-tracks for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 320,869, were granted to me June 23, 1885; and the object of my present invention is to afford facilities for obtaining the advantages of the construction shown and described in the said Letters Patent at greatly-reduced cost. This object I attain by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of one of my metallic stringers, part of a length of trackrail, and portions of the tie-rods for the tracks. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my metallic stringer as adapted to this improvement. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the metallic stringer and track-rail, showing a side elevation of the tie-rod and a longitudinal section of the key for securing the track-rail and tie-rod; and Fig. 4 is a like section, showing a modified form of the metallic stringer.

In thisinvention, as in the invention shown and described in my prior patent, the track and all of its accessories are composed of metallic parts.

As represented in the drawings, A designates the track-rail, which consists of a horizontal flange 1, a slightly-inclined web, 2, a head or tread, 3, and a pendent longitudinal rib, 4, on the under side of said flange at about mid-width of said track-rail. A longitudinal rabbet, 5, is formed in the under side of said track-rail, directly under the head 3, for the purpose of lightening said rail and dispensing with an unnecessary weight of comparatively expensive material at that point.

B is the metallic stringer, which is preferably cast of iron, and is preferably made in a boxlike form, with an open bottom and partially-open top. The latter is provided with a series of flat seats, 6, that are flush with the upper side of said stringer, and a series of raised seats, 7, which conform to the rabbeted side of the track-rail and form supports for the head of said rail. Between the seats 6 and 7 and at each end of the metallic stringer a longitudinal slot, 8, is formed to receive the pendent rib 0f the track-rail, and thereby accurately locate said rail in place. Said stringer is also provided in both of its sides with oppositely-located T-shaped openings 9, which are preferably located directly under the seats 6 and 7, and are formed for the purpose of receiving the tie-rods O and the keys D. Said openings should be sufliciently large to permit said tie-rods to be passed endwise through them with perfect freedom.

The tie-rods O are formed of flat bar-iron, and have near each end two notches, 10, in their lower edge, and in their upper edge a single notch, 11. The notches 10 are formed to engage with the sides of the stringer B at the lower side of the openings 9, and the notches 11 are made to receive the lower edge of the pendent rib of the track-rail A. The tie-rods O serve as gages for spacing the tracks at the required distance apart without having recourse to the gage-rods commonly used for that purpose.

The keys D are made slightly wedge form, and are fitted to drive into the horizontal arm of the T-shaped openings 9 and through corresponding slots in the pendent web of the track-rail, and thereby securely hold said tie rods and track-rails in their respective places in and upon the metallic stringer B.

The mode of constructing a railway-track containing my present improvementswhich mode is substantially the same as required for constructing a track under'my prior patent-may be briefly stated as follows: The metallic stringers B, having the tie-rods O inserted in the openings 9, but unsecured therein, are fixed in position on the road-bed. Then the track-rails A are placed in position and the keys D driven to firmly secure said rails and tie-rods to said metallic stringers, and this operation is continued until the tracks are completed.

By removing the superfluous metal from under the head of the track-rails by forming the rabbet 5 thereunder and forming the raised seats 7 -0n the metallic stringers B to support said head a very considerable reduction of the cost in the construction is effected.

In the modification in the form of the metallic stringer, as shown in Fig. 4, the raised seat for supporting the head of the trackrail A is formed by an outer rib, 12, which is an upward extension of the corresponding side of the stringer B, and an inner 'rib, 13, which is run parallel to the outer rib to the length of said seat.

I claim as my invention- In a railway-track, the combination of a track-rail having a longitudinal rabbet formed under its head and a longitudinal rib pendent from its lower face, and a metallic stringer vhaving two series of seats formed on its upper facethose at one side of said stringer being higher than the series at the 20 opposite sidethe higher seats forming a support for the rabbeted edge of said track-rail, said stringer also having a longitudinal slot through its upper face for receiving the pendent rib of said track-rail, as and for the pur- 25 

